


More Than Comfort

by wallbanger2008



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, First Kiss, First Time, Fluff and Smut, Karai and Leo Get Captured, Leorai - Freeform, Slut Shaming, Sort Of, Talkin Bout Feeeelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:07:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27493975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wallbanger2008/pseuds/wallbanger2008
Summary: Leo and Karai are captured and learn that Shredder and his gang have come to their own conclusions about their relationship. But Karai isn’t one to let labels bother her. If anything, they only spur her on. Not that Leo’s complaining.Smut in the second chapter.
Relationships: Karai/Leonardo (TMNT)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 58





	1. Chapter 1

Leo paced the cell, listening carefully for any sort of noise that might indicate someone might be coming. He was deep underneath Shredder’s lair, but he felt confident his brothers would be coming for him soon enough. 

They weren’t the only ones he was listening for. He’d been out with Karai when they’d been captured, and while Shredder had only deigned to gloat in his face for a moment before sending him away, he’d ordered Karai to stay put. He apparently had some things to say to her. 

Leo could imagine what some of those words might be. Karai had left Shredder about a month ago and had been working with the turtles ever since. He assumed Shredder was aware of this and wasn’t happy about the fact. The only question was what he’d do with her afterward. 

Well, asked and answered. Leo heard the sounds of footsteps approaching and ran to the door. Through the barred window he could see Karai being escorted by Tiger Claw and Xever. When they reached his cell, Tiger Claw drew a phaser and pointed it at him. 

“Get back.”

Leo knew it wasn’t the time to fight, so he took a couple steps backward. Tiger Claw grinned maliciously, then turned to leer at Karai. 

“There are plenty of cells down here, as I’m sure you know, girl. But we’re not heartless here. We’ll let you stay with your _koibito_ ,” he chuckled darkly as he said the last word and Karai shot him a glare. 

Xever unlocked the cell door and stepped back as Tiger Claw threw Karai roughly into the cell, tripping her up as she went. She landed on her hands and knees in front of Leo. 

“Enjoy,” he sneered at Leo as he slammed the door shut.

As soon as they were gone, Leo rushed to her side before she could get back to her feet and extended his hand to assist her. She let him pull her up, then put a hand on his shoulder in a gesture of thanks. 

He cringed when he got a clear look at her face. “Karai,” he sighed, cupping her face and swiping a gentle thumb over the bruise blossoming under her eye. 

She ducked away. “The old man is getting soft,” she scoffed. 

Leo’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Karai, you’ve got a massive shiner and the man who still calls you his daughter just threw you into a cell. I’d hardly call that ‘getting soft.’”

She gave him a look that made his breath catch in his throat. “I think I’m a better judge of Shredder’s punishments than you, Leo. This isn’t the first time he’s decided I _require_ _discipline_.” Her voice dipped down with the last two words into what he assumed was supposed to be an impression of Shredder. It actually wasn’t too bad. But that thought was quickly pushed aside when he realized what she was saying. 

He opened his mouth to… what, exactly? Offer condolences? Sympathy? What did he know about growing up under someone like Oroku Saki? In any event, he took too long to speak because Karai cut him off before he could begin. 

“It’s fine,” she said dismissively. “Like I said, he’s done worse. This… punishment… he thinks he’s humiliating me.” 

“Humiliating?”

She nods. “He sees it that way. It should be humiliating to be cast down, made to live with a ‘mutant freak’.” She pauses and shoots him a crooked smile. “He thinks it should be beneath me. He… called me kame ianfu. Tiger Claw found it quite amusing. As you could just see.”

Leo wasn’t completely fluent in Japanese, but he knew enough that he picked up on the word ‘turtle.’ He wasn’t sure what ‘ianfu’ meant, but he thought he might have an idea. 

“Ianfu?” he asked tentatively. 

“Comfort woman. Military prostitute.” Karai shrugged. 

Ah. Yeah, he had suspected it was something along those lines. Kame ianfu. A whore for turtles. A _traitorous_ whore for turtles. Admittedly he had thought it might be a little tamer, like ‘turtle sympathizer’ or maybe even ‘turtle lover.’ Kame ianfu. The more he turned it over in his head, the harsher it sounded. 

He studied Karai, intrigued that she wasn’t more upset by this. 

“That doesn’t bother you?” he asked. 

She turned away for a moment. “I’ve been called worse.” She shook her head and took a deep breath before she turned back. When Leo saw her face, he was surprised to see she was wearing a small smile. “And it’s not like it isn’t true.” 

His breath hitched and he felt his face getting hot. His mind started irrationally whirling, wondering if he’d somehow missed something big. He and Karai hadn’t even kissed. You’d think he’d remember if they’d… What was she saying? 

Karai let out a snicker. “You should see your face right now.” 

“But you just said… But we’ve never… uh, not that I wouldn’t…” he stammered. It was moments like these when he wondered if he would ever feel confident talking to Karai without a sword in his hand. 

She rolled her eyes. “I simply meant that he was right. From his point of view I _have_ been traitorous. I’ve switched sides and I like a turtle. Kame ianfu might not be a Donatello-level-accurate term, but…” she drifted off and shrugged once more as if to say she was fine with it. 

Leo was struck with dozens of things he should say to her: that he was happy she was on their side; that Shredder’s opinions were meaningless; that he didn’t think she was a… a comfort woman; that their relationship, such as it was, meant so much more to him than that. 

But all that came out was, “You like me?” 

Karai snorted. “Have I not been obvious?” 

Leo stared at her. “Uh… not really.” He noticed the dubious look on her face, and quickly backpedaled. “I mean, I knew you liked me, you know, as a friend. Like you like my brothers.” 

Karai walked toward him and he found himself tempted to back up, but he forced himself to stand his ground. Where was he really going to go, anyway? The cell wall was only six feet behind him, and half of that space was taken up by a ratty looking cot. 

She stopped when she was less than a foot away from him. “I don’t like you like I like your brothers,” she said in a low voice. “I _like_ you. You should know that. I want you to know that.”

“Heh. Must be pretty thick if Shredder knew and I didn’t, huh?” Leo joked half-heartedly, trying to conceal the small explosion of joy that was happening inside him. Karai liked him. She’d said it out loud. 

She smiled at him—that cutting but teasing smile that was all Karai. “Your words, not mine.” 

“I like you too,” he said, ignoring her slight dig. 

She said nothing back this time, so they stood there in silence for a moment as Leo agonized over what he should do or say next. Should he reassure her that they’d be out of there soon? That sounded stupid and she didn’t seem to need any reassuring. Did he _need_ to say anything? Their cards were on the table, they finally knew where they stood. Should he take her hand? Embrace her? 

His thoughts were interrupted by Karai muttering, “Enough,” and swooping in to close the distance between them. 

Her lips cut him off mid-breath, but Leo quickly found his confidence and kissed her back. This was hardly the circumstances he’d imagined for his first kiss, but as his father had once told him, no plan survives contact with the enemy.

Who cared that he was currently trapped in a cell beneath Shredder’s lair with no way of contacting his brothers and currently only existing at the pleasure of his greatest foe? He was kissing the only girl he’d ever wanted to kiss. Her lips were softer than he’d imagined, and he groaned as she slid her tongue into his mouth. 

He let her back him up until his legs hit the small cot. He could feel her pushing on his shoulders and he obediently sat down and welcomed her into his lap. She took a moment to undo her breast plate and toss it off before pulling him back in for a kiss. Her body was already so familiar to him from years of fighting each other, and yet he still felt the spark of new discovery as she straddled his lap. He placed his hands on her hips and pulled her closer to him. They’d pushed up against each other countless times while fighting or sparring, but this was different. You don’t notice how soft your opponent’s breasts feel against you when she’s got you in a chokehold. 

He noticed now though. He continued to kiss her as he ran a hand up her side, slow enough to give her the opportunity to stop him, but she didn’t. His fingertips grazed the bottom of her breasts, and Karai let out a little sigh that Leo took as a sign he should continue. He brought his hand up to palm her and flexed his fingers, experimenting with the fullness and softness of her flesh. He lifted his other hand to fondle her other breast and was met with a moan that went straight to his groin. 

He could feel his tail unfurling from where he kept it tucked and knew he wouldn’t be able to contain himself much longer. It didn’t help that Karai was now licking and sucking her way down his neck, sending blood directly southward and testing his resolve. 

Just how far were they going to go here? Was he going to lose his virginity in a cage in Shredder’s lair? If it wasn’t for his unshakable faith in his brothers being able to rescue them, he might just say to hell with it and go for it.

And what was Karai thinking? She didn’t seem to mind in the least that Shredder and his cohorts apparently already thought she was being intimate with him. He knew her well enough that he could practically hear her saying, “They already think we’re fucking, we might as well do it.” 

But this wasn’t really what he wanted. As good as it all felt—and god, it did feel good, especially now that Karai was practically grinding against the bottom of his plastron—he knew they’d be out of there soon and then what? No, if they were going to do this, they were going to do this properly. 

He gave her breasts one last squeeze and dropped his hands back to her waist. “Karai,” he said, his voice sounding gravely. “Hold on.” 

She pulled back from where she’d been sucking on his neck and ran her eyes over his face. “What?” 

“We need to stop.” A small part of his brain was already screaming at him that this was a fantastically bad idea, but he forced himself to ignore it.

She arched a brow. “Why? You don’t want…?”

“No, I do… trust me, I really do,” he squeezed her hips. “But not here.” 

She looked around as if realizing for the first time where she was, then nodded. “Fair enough,” she muttered, and gracefully spun off his lap and onto the cot next to him. They were silent for a moment, and Leo was grateful for the opportunity to cool off. He currently doubted his ability to get up and start moving without having to walk a little funny. 

After a minute or so, Karai spoke again. “So, if we weren’t here… if we were, say, back in my room at my hideout. What do you think we’d be doing?” 

He could hear the teasing lilt in her voice and was torn. Part of him wanted to beg her to give him a break, he’d only just managed to tuck his tail back into its usual place. But the other part of him, the part that always gave into her, even against his better judgement, couldn’t resist playing along. 

“I’m guessing we wouldn’t be playing Monopoly,” he smirked. 

She grinned. “It’s a boring game anyway.” She moved her hand so that it was touching his on the cot between them. He glanced down to watch as she began to rub her pinkie delicately over his finger. “What I meant was, if we weren’t here, would you have stopped us?” Her face was now serious. 

He spoke without thinking: “No.” 

And it was true. He could think of dozens of reasons why they weren’t a good idea. He’d been told over and over again that they weren’t a good idea. And even after Karai had aligned herself with the Hamato clan, it wasn’t like there was an automatic green light. Raph hadn’t rushed over to tell him to go hit that. Splinter had said nothing, perhaps not wishing to bring up a potentially awkward subject. 

But he couldn’t deny the tide that had flowed through him since the day he’d first met her. The urge that kept pushing him toward her, refusing to let him forget about her or give up on her. He had become more careful regarding how he spoke about her in front of his family, but at night, his thoughts always drifted to her. When he touched himself, she was the one he thought about. She wasn’t something you just got over, like the flu. She was something you got over like an amputation. 

“No, I wouldn’t have stopped us,” he said again, quieter this time. He looked at her out of the corners of his eyes. “I would have kept going until _you_ stopped  _me_ .”

“And if I never stopped you?” 

He could feel himself beginning to get hard again. God, the things this woman was capable of doing to him. He turned to face her. “Then I guess we just wouldn’t stop.” He mentally patted himself on the back. _Pretty_ _smooth_.

He watched her uncross and recross her legs and noticed how her thighs clenched together at his words. Holy… unless he was mistaken, she was just as affected by this as he was. He swallowed hard and reminded himself that this was not the right time. 

Karai’s pinkie was still moving against his finger, and she leaned in toward him, looking every bit like she was about to kiss him again. “Leo, when we get out of here—“

But he didn’t get to hear whatever she had planned for when they escaped. She was cut off by a sudden blast and a billowing cloud of smoke that made both of them jump to their feet. 

“Hate to break up your date, but we gotta go!” 

Leo grinned at the sound of Raph’s voice coming though the hole in the wall where the door had been. He turned to Karai to see her wearing a familiar nasty smirk. “I hope you don’t mind if I stop on our way out to _thank_ Shredder for his hospitality,” she said, her voice thick with sarcasm. 

“He’s already gone,” Raph said as he walked through the dissipating smoke. “But Tiger Claw’s still up there. I’m sure he’d love to relay the message for you.” 

“Just as well,” Karai said, giving Leo a significant look. He remembered she’d said that Tiger Claw had found the kame ianfu comment particularly funny and realized what Karai was thinking. 

He nodded to her and pulled out his blades. “Let’s do this guys.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the next chapter, Karai and Leo “play Monopoly.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The smut you’ve all been waiting for!

A week went by before Leo heard from Karai again. After escaping Shredder’s compound and doing some brutal damage to Tiger Claw in the process—seriously, the guy was starting to run out of body parts to chop off—Karai had announced she was going back to her hideout in a tone that had not been invitational. Not that Leo would have felt comfortable taking her up on it. Not in front of his brothers and April. 

The next day, he’d texted her. Nothing serious, just asking if she was ok. It had taken her two days to respond and when she did, it was a simple _I’m fine._

He’d felt deflated. Had what happened in the cell meant nothing? He’d thought… well, he’d thought they’d finally pushed past all the flirting and running around. They’d pretty much outright said they wanted to be together. Although… The more he thought about it, the more he realized that being together might mean something different to Karai than it did to him. She’d said she liked him, but what did that mean to her?

By the time he received another text from her, he’d been moping for nearly a week. He was almost angry at himself over how excited he automatically got when he looked at his phone and saw he had a message from her: 

_Karai: Come by my place tonight._

That was it. There was no context, no explanation. It wasn’t even really a request, it was an order. How very like her. He shook his head even as he responded:

_Leo: Ok._

A couple hours later and she was waiting for him on the fire escape of the abandoned building she’d set up camp in. When he landed, she turned wordlessly and let herself in through the window and he followed her, his pulse quickening traitorously when he noted they were in her bedroom. 

He was a little surprised she didn't lead him out of the room and into her kitchen or living room space, but instead turned on the spot and began talking. 

“Thank you for coming tonight, Leo. I know you were probably disappointed that I didn’t ask you here sooner, after what happened last weekend.” Her voice was calm and brisk as ever and he couldn’t decide if he was more annoyed or amused that she had him pinned so accurately. 

He shrugged, attempting to play it just as cool as she did. “Nah, I figured you were, you know, doing your thing.” He attempted to lean casually on a nearby desk, but his hand slipped on a pile of loose papers and the resulting stumble immediately undercut his attempt. He awkwardly recovered and settled for folding his arms in front of him. 

To her credit, Karai didn’t laugh or even giggle, but her lips curled up in a smile that just _destroyed_ any lingering resentment he might be holding on to. 

She took a step toward him. “Honestly, I didn’t do much this week. I mostly stayed here and thought.”

“About?” 

“About me. What I want. What I need. What I deserve. What I’m owed.”

He couldn’t help but wonder where she was going with this. “And?” he asked. 

She took another step toward him. “And I want you.” 

He had to admire her confidence, although he couldn’t say it surprised him. This was Karai, after all. She didn’t do _blushing flower_. He realized she was staring at him, awaiting his response. 

“Uh, I want you too,” he said, trying to match her confidence. “I thought I made that clear last weekend.”

She grinned. “I know. And I know I told you I liked you last weekend. But, this is me telling you again, under no duress or outside influence, that I’m interested. Extremely interested.” Her eyes raked over his body and he shivered. 

So this was it? They were laying it all out there? They were going to do this? He step toward her and closed the gap between their bodies. 

“You want to be with me?” he asked. 

She nodded and his nerves fluttered. “Do you want to be with me?” 

“Yeah.” 

They went in for the kiss at the same time. He could feel a strange weight being lifted from his shoulders, now knowing for sure that there would be no more games, no more running around chasing each other. He pressed his lips harder against her and sighed when he felt her tongue slide against his own. He felt her reach behind him and undo his mask. She pulled it off before breaking away. 

“Are we stopping tonight?” she asked, echoing the conversation they’d had in the cell. 

Leo shook his head. “I don’t plan to. Do you?” 

“Not a chance,” she smiled, but then looked serious. “Have you ever…?” 

He cast his eyes down and away. He knew he had no real reason to be embarrassed, but still. This was one of those times when he felt a little small next to Karai, with all the things she’d been able to do and experience. 

“No,” he shook his head. “Have you?” He suspected he knew the answer, but he had to ask. 

“I have,” she said quietly. “Just one of the many perks of being a Foot Clan kunoichi.” There was bitterness in her voice that made his heart ache for her. 

“Karai,” he said, pulling gently on one of the long tendrils of hair that framed her face. 

“No, it’s fine,” she said, her voice reverting back to her normal self-assured tone. “It’s in the past and it will never happen again. I get to choose now. And I choose to be with you.”

Leo wondered if he should say anything, but his thoughts were cut off by Karai grabbing him and kissing him again. He made a mental note to ask her about her past later. For now, though, he was happy to lose himself in the last thing she said. She chose _him_. He was the one she chose and he’d be damned if he’d let her ever regret that choice, regardless of inexperience.

He pulled his lips from hers and began to dot kisses across her face and down her neck, where he sucked on her smooth, soft skin. He felt her reaching to remove her breast plate and he stopped her hands. “Let me,” he muttered against her neck. As with all things, Leo has thought this through. He’d imagined this moment dozens of times and knew exactly what he wanted to do if it ever became a reality. 

Her arms fell to her sides and she took a small step back. Leo pulled her by the hips and maneuvered her until she was standing in front of a mirror that hung next to her closet. He slid his hands up from her hips and over the smooth, rounded planes of her breast plate before undoing the fastenings at the side and letting it fall to the floor with a clatter. 

Next, he made quick work of removing the armor that protected her forearms and shins, leaving her in her black leggings and form-fitting top. He ran a hand over her breasts again and held back a groan when he realized he could now feel her nipples tightening beneath the fabric. He moved behind her and slowly pulled her shirt off, watching over her shoulder as inch after inch of pale skin was exposed. When his fingers met the bottom of her sports bra, he dipped them underneath and pulled it off along with her shirt. 

When he was done, he wrapped his arms around her from behind, watching in the mirror as large, misshapen hands roved over soft breasts, squeezing and caressing. Karai leaned backward into his embrace, following his hands in the mirror as he explored her chest. She felt warm and wonderful in his hands and arms, and he could feel himself beginning to get hard. 

“You’re beautiful,” he said quietly, and she hummed in response. She took hold of one of his hands and guided it down to the apex of her legs. Leo swallowed hard as he extended a finger and slid it between her legs. He felt her body tense for a moment and he stopped. 

“Keep going,” Karai said, her eyes meeting his in the reflection. 

Leo nodded and moved his finger again, sliding it back and forth and watching Karai’s reactions in the mirror. He’d done enough blush-inducing research to know what he was looking for, and quickly realized he’d found it when Karai suddenly clamped her thighs around his hand as if she were anchoring him in place. He wiggled his finger in the same spot, unable to feel much through the hot fabric but knowing he must be doing something right by the way Karai was now bucking her hips ever so slightly against his hand. He slid his free hand up her stomach and began massaging her breasts again.

He moved his finger faster and Karai’s head lolled back and landed on his shoulder. He was tempted to try to kiss her, but he didn’t dare break the rhythm of his hands and he was worried this was something he wouldn’t be able to multitask. He was transfixed by the image he was seeing in the mirror: his arms wrapped around Karai, one hand on her naked breasts, the other buried between her legs.

He felt Karai slide her hand over his and realized she was silently indicating that he should use a little more pressure on her clit. He let her guide him and was rewarded with a soft moan. 

“Keep going,” she quietly demanded. Her body was writhing against his and he could feel himself on the precipice of dropping down. He sped up his fingers and moments later, he felt Karai tense in his arms. His eyes darted up to watch her face in the mirror as she came with a sharp intake of air. 

When she was finished, he turned his head to kiss her gently on the neck. “Good?” he asked. 

“Fuck. So good,” she groaned. Then, with a mischievous grin, she winked at him in the mirror. “You sure you’ve never done this before?” 

He chuckled awkwardly. “I've always been good at picking up fine motor skills.” 

She snorted under her breath and turned in his arms to face him. “Come on,” she said, kissing him again and pulling him by the edges of his plastron toward her bed. When they were standing next to it, she hooked her thumbs in her waistband and peeled off her leggings and undies, then crawled onto the bed and lay back. 

Leo let out a chuff of air. There she was. Karai in all her glory. How many times had he tried to picture this? Her lean muscles under pale skin, toned thighs that parted beneath his gaze to give him a glimpse of pink. His tail unfurled and he felt the tip of himself beginning to poke out. 

“When you’ve looked your fill, you should join me,” Karai beckoned. He nodded and began stripping off his gear, something he could usually do smoothly without looking, but for some reason his fingers felt clunky and awkward. When he was finally bare, Karai sat up. 

“Let me see you,” she said, nodding toward the space between his legs.   


He hesitated. He knew Karai was no fool and knew what she was getting into here. But still. “I... you should know I look... different.”

She raised a brow. “I figured that might be a possibility,” she said dryly. “And I don’t care. Let me see you.”

He took a deep breath and let himself emerge, watching her face carefully the whole time to gauge her reaction. 

Her composure slipped only for a second, betraying her shock at seeing him, but she quickly recovered. “Well, aren’t you a lucky guy?” she said breathlessly and crooked her finger in a ‘come here’ motion. He blushed and followed her onto the bed and into her arms. 

She spread her legs wider to accommodate him and he let out a soft churr when he felt his length slide against her. He shut his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath to center himself. When he opened them and looked down at Karai, she was wearing a knowing smile. 

“Ready?” 

“Yeah.” 

“You know what to do?” She rubbed her hands across his shoulders in an encouraging way.

He nodded. “Yeah.” His heart was hammering in his chest as he reached down and lined himself up. His breath caught in his throat as he began pushing inside. _Holy shell._ He looked down and watched as her body parted around his solid length. The sight was hypnotic. He would have continued watching, but a small whimper made him stop moving and jerk his head up. Karai’s mouth was in a thin, straight line and her eyes were closed. 

“Karai?”

She shook her head. “It’s fine. Just… a little more than I’m used to. Keep going.”

Leo felt a small surge of panic. He held himself above her, fighting the urge to push deeper. She already felt so good. 

“I-I don’t want to hurt you,” he winced. 

Karai rolled her eyes. “I said it’s fine. Keep moving. Leo,” she grabbed his chin and held his attention. Her expression softened. “I’m fine. Go ahead.” She hiked her knees up higher on either side of him and he couldn’t stop himself from sliding a little further in. 

He was still concerned he might be hurting her, but he also knew there was no arguing with Karai. And if this was what she wanted, who was he to deny her? He continued pushing forward until he felt himself bottoming out inside her. He paused again, panting. 

“Oh, god, Karai.” 

He tried to think of the last time anything had felt this good and failed. Nothing even came close to being buried deep inside Karai, feeling her hands gripping onto his shoulders and her legs squeezing against his sides. 

He ducked down to kiss her, then pressed his face against her neck and began to move. Nothing he’d been able to conjure up in his fantasies compared to this—feeling Karai wiggling against him and hearing the surprisingly soft noises she made as he pulled and pushed within her—and it was all so good. 

He pulled back to watch her as they moved together. A surge of pure ego shot through him as he gazed over her face—she was obviously enjoying this. He moved faster, groaning as she flexed her slick walls around him. 

“Karai...” he moaned as she let out a laugh. 

“Tell me how it feels,” she demanded. 

If he wasn’t already flushed from pleasure and the mounting effort of holding himself back, he would have blushed again. “Mmm you’re… you feel really good. Hot… and wet… and tight… oh god, Karai… I’m gonna… I’m not gonna last much longer.”

She nodded and pushed a hand between them and began fingering her clit. Leo watched. The sight of her touching herself, just above where he could see himself disappearing into her over and over again… it was all too much. 

“Karai, I’m gonna…” he warned.

“I’m almost there… just… pull out when you do,” she moaned beneath him. 

He increased his pace, pounding into her, biting the inside of his cheek to give himself something else to focus on, anything to keep him from coming before her. He grasped at the bedsheets and groaned, knowing he didn’t have long… when he suddenly felt a new tightening sensation around his cock. He looked down to see Karai arching her back as she came and he couldn’t hold back any longer. He pulled out of her and barely managed a single stroke before he came on the sheet next to her with a soft grunt. 

He closed his eyes and sat back on his knees until his breathing returned to normal. He felt Karai stir and get up, and opened his eyes to watch as she walked across the room to fetch a towel and put it over the mess on the sheets. She laid back down and gestured for him to join her. 

He followed her down and wrapped his arms around her, laying a soft kiss in her mussed hair. They lay in silence for a moment before he felt her start to shake. Panicked, he looked down, horrified that he might have hurt her or given her some other cause to cry, but to his immense relief, she was laughing. Well, sort of.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked. 

She gave one last humorless chuckle, then shook her head. “Just thinking about last weekend again. How it’s all come full circle.”

“What do you mean?” 

“Kame ianfu.” He could tell that she was trying to keep her voice light and flippant, but it didn’t fool him. He knew her too well by now and he could hear the edge in her voice. 

He felt a spike of anger toward Shredder. How dare he somehow manage to taint this moment. When Leo spoke, his voice was clear and firm—his ‘fearless leader voice.’ “Don’t call yourself that.” 

“Don’t give me orders,” Karai shot back. She didn’t sound angry, but he could hear the warning there.

He sighed. “Karai, it’s important to me,” he said, softer now. “I want you to know that while you do give me comfort, I don’t think of you as a comfort woman, or… or whore.” The word sounded awful leaving his mouth. “I would hate that. Even if we never went through with this…” he gestured between them. “I’d still feel the same about you.” 

Her face softened as she listened to him, reaffirming his suspicions that Shredder’s words had hurt her more than she’d let on. He allowed her a second to regain her usual cool composure before she muttered, “Softy,” and planted her lips on his again. 

When the kiss was over, he shook his head good-naturedly, knowing how important it was to her to be able to hold up that mask. She could maintain whatever facade she wanted, be as closed off as she wanted, be as arrogant, disdainful, and cutting as she wanted. Because he’d seen behind all that—and not because he’d peeked illicitly or pried the mask off by force. She’d shown him all on her own. 

He knew they wouldn’t have the easiest path ahead of them. He knew there would be questions from his brothers. They might still try to caution him. But none of that mattered. He knew what was real here. He knew where he stood and where she stood. And it was finally on the same page. 


End file.
